Improvement in washing-machines



B. F. FOWLER.

WASHING-MACHINES. No.18.3,152'. Patented on. 10. 1876.

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JAMES H OE GD 8c CO BOSTON UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

BENJAMIN F. FOWLER, OF EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN.

.IMPROVEMENT IN WASHING-MACHINES.

' Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 153,152, dated October 10, 1876; application filed July 31, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. FOWLER, of .Eau Claire, in the county of Eau Claire and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and usefulImprovement i'n Washing-Machine, of which the following is a specification:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of my improved machine, taken through the line w .12, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same, part being broken away to show the construction.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of this invention is to furnish an improved machine for washing clothes that does its work by alternately saturating the clothes, and then pressing them to force out the water and dirt, which shall be so con structed as to do its work quickly and thoroughly, and without injuring even the most delicate fabrics.

The invention consists in the combination of the semicylindrical frame, the small rollers, the large roller, the presser-roller, the guide-rods, and the spiral spring-s, with each other, and with the suds-box.

A is the suds-box, which is made rectangular in its general form, and with a semicylindrical cavity in its bottom beneath the washing mechanism. The suds-box A is supported upon the legs B, of such a length as to raise the machine to a convenient height, and is divided into two unequal compartments by a transverse partition, a, the smaller compartment being intended to receive the clothes to be soaked, and keep them separate from those being washed. 0 is a semicylindrical frame, to the curved side bars of which are pivoted a series of ten, more or less, small rollers, l). The outer rollers D, or all of them, are corrugated. The ends of the side bars of the frame 0 or arms attached to said ends project outward, and have holes formed through them to receive the guiderods E, the lower ends of which are secured to the bottom of the suds-box A, and their upper ends are held in place by passing through holes in straps or lugs attached to the upper edges of the sides of said suds-box. The ends of the side bars of the frame G rest upon the upper ends of four spiral springs, F, placed upon the lower parts of the guiderods E, so that the rollers D may be held up against the clothes with a yielding pressure, to enable them to yield to the varying thickness of the clothes being operated upon. G H is a large cylinder or roller, a foot, more or less, in diameter, which is formed by attaching cross-bars H to the edges of two circular disks G. The out-er edges of the crossbars H are rounded off to give a corrugated face to the roller.

The journals of the rollers G H revolve in hearings in the sides of the suds-box A, and to one of said journals is attached the crank O, by which the machine is operated, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. To one side of the roller G H is attached the edge of a clothapron, l, beneath which the ends of the clothes are placed, so that they may readily pass in between the rollers. To the sides of the sudsbox A, at the ends of the rollers G H, are attached brackets L, the upper ends of which are connected by a cross-bar or board, M.

The upper parts of the brackets L are slotted vertically, to receive the bearings for the roller J, which bearings slide up and down upon guide-rods K, and are held down, pressing the roller J against the face of the roller G H by spiral springs N, placed upon the said guide-rods K.

By this construction, the clothes are operated upon to soften and loosen the dirt as they pass through the water between the rollers G, H, and D, and the water and dirt are pressed out as the said clothes pass between the rollers G, H. and J, so that the clothes will be washed very quickly and thoroughly.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The combination of the semi cylindrical frame 0, the small rollers l), the large roller G H, the presser-roller J, the guide-rods E and K, and the spiral springs F and N, with each other and with the suds-box A, substantially as herein shown and described.

BENJAMIN F. FOWLER.

Witnesses:

R. A. BILL, M. B. HUBBARD. 

